


Out of Reach

by TinyBat



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-03
Updated: 2012-10-03
Packaged: 2017-11-15 13:06:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/527636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TinyBat/pseuds/TinyBat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A welcome but unwelcome house guest and the inconvenience of top shelves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Out of Reach

**Author's Note:**

> This has gone through a little bit of tweaking from the tumblr version

With magic now back and causing problems it had been decided that there should be a council deciding on how it would be best to deal with them as they arise. Regina and Rumplestiltskin were in the middle of a truly frightening and personal war with the rest of the town looking like future collateral damage and that wouldn’t stand. The council consisted of Widow Lucas, Ruby, Archie, Mary Margaret, David, Emma, Abigail, Frederick, and much to the surprise of everyone, Jefferson the reclusive and slightly mad hat maker.

Mary Margaret was so furious she was shaking when he showed up. After a very rushed but honest proclamation of intent he was allowed inside without fatal head injuries. He was a parent too and if she understood anything it was a desire to protect her daughter; they had that in common and for now that was enough. With the meeting in session a large pot of coffee was needed and Emma who had very little desire to listen to the current discussion appointed herself the coffee maker. With the coffee done and mugs set out she just needed sugar, the only real issue with this was that she couldn’t reach the shelf on which it lived.

“Could I please have someone tall in here? I can’t reach the sugar bowl and I’d rather not get on the counter to grab it.” yelled Emma from the kitchen with a hint of irritation. A moment later a hand brushed past her accompanied by an eccentrically patterned but tasteful sleeve and pulled down the offending bowl to the counter top. Emma forced herself not to belt the owner of the hand across the head and turned around to thank him. She didn’t trust Jefferson but her opinion of him had changed when the curse broke and the girl he believed to be his daughter ran into his arms, hugging him like he was the only real thing in the world. Like her mother she wasn’t going to deny him the opportunity to keep his child safe so she tolerated him.

“Tall was your only qualifier and I have several inches on you so you have no reason to get annoyed by anything but your poor choice of words.” Jefferson grinned down at her and even his tone suggested that he had done it to get a rise out of her. Hitting him would have felt wonderful but they were both adults and she didn’t want to get blood all over the floor.

“Thank you, I’d appreciate it if you could now get as far away from me as possible. Just because we let you stay doesn’t mean I want you here.” hissed the now very aggravated Emma. She was satisfied when he backed away but that changed when he seemed totally unbothered by her unpleasantness.

He showed up every week and often made very insightful suggestions but stayed quiet otherwise. He was polite, intelligent and strangely enough a brilliant tactician so forcibly removing him would never happen. She’d just have to continue dealing with him and fight off whatever violent urge he incited with those ridiculously charming smiles of his.


End file.
